Sunday, January 03, 2016

Shoe, Meet The Other Foot

From the start, fans of HBO's Game Of Thrones have had to deal with the condescension of readers of the George R. R. Martin book series A Song Of Ice And Fire (from whence GOT came).

"Don't get too enamored of [whatever main character will soon be on the chopping block]."

"I hope someone lends Jaime a hand."

"Wait till you get to the Red Wedding."

For years the internet was awash in spoilers. Martin's sprawling epic, which some believe has a plot that is still expanding when it should be contracting, is far from over. But the TV series marches on in its relentless way. And by season five, some of the show's plotlines went beyond what the books had.

Meanwhile, everyone hoped Martin's latest would be released before season six, but he's now sent out word it's not done and won't be any time soon. And this is only one book. There's at least one more to go after this, and the books keep getting longer while the time between publishing dates does as well. (In fact, whether Martin will finish the epic, or the epic will finish him, is an open question.)

The TV show and the books don't have the exact same plot, but Martin has conferred with the producers so they have a good idea where he's heading. So from now on, it'll be TV fans (like me) who will be far ahead of the book fans.

Which means the readers won't be able to lord their knowledge over the watchers. In fact, almost everything that happens at this point will be a potential spoiler for the books. The readers will have to be the ones to avoid all the spoilage on the internet.

All I can say to Game Of Thrones fans who discuss these things on in the internet, try to be humble. You remember what it's like.